Skip to main content

Sony reverses wrongful ban of PlayStation 4 player due to ‘offensive’ PSN ID

A PlayStation 4 owner found himself in the middle of controversy after he was wrongfully banned by Sony over what was mistaken as an offensive PlayStation Network (PSN) username.

The gamer started a thread on the PlayStation 4 sub-Reddit to seek help for his situation. He said that he switched to the PlayStation 4 more than a year ago, and has spent “a couple hundred if not a thousand or more” in games and other content for the console.

Recommended Videos

To his surprise, he recently received an email that he was permanently banned from the PlayStation Network. Upon calling Sony’s official support team, the PlayStation 4 owner discovered that it was due to an offensive PSN ID.

The “offensive” PSN ID in question was Kike_0615, with “Kike” being the user’s nickname for his real name of Enrique and a common name in his home country of Mexico. However, after researching, he found out that the name is also used as an offensive ethnic slur for Jewish people.

Enrique attempted to get his PSN account restored, but he was rebuffed several times. He was not looking to have his username restored in the understanding that his nickname may be misinterpreted, but rather just to reclaim the games and progress that was attached to the PSN ID.

Fortunately, after Enrique received support from other gamers and his predicament started making rounds online, Sony finally reversed its decision. He received a call from a support team manager, who admitted the mistake and informed him that his was account was fully reactivated and his PSN ID restored.

After all that he went through, Enrique still maintained a positive attitude, expressing gratitude to everyone who helped him with his ordeal and revealing plans to continue with a change to his PSN ID.

“We have to keep in mind that the PSN is a global thing and we have to at least take into small consideration how other people feel,” Enrique wrote in a separate Reddit thread in the aftermath of Sony’s decision.

Enrique will be one of the PlayStation 4 owners who will take advantage of the PSN Online ID Change feature, which was announced last month. Beta testers are the first to gain access to the feature, which has its wider rollout planned in early 2019.

The first PSN ID change will be free, but subsequent changes will cost $5 for PlayStation Plus subscribers and $10 for non-subscribers. Sony, however, warned that using the feature may result in lost purchases, save data, and trophies.

Aaron Mamiit
Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…
GTA3 is coming to PlayStation Plus in big June update
Grand Theft Auto 3

June is just around the corner, and that means new PlayStation Plus freebies and even more games added to the catalog and classics collection — including Grand Theft Auto 3. The news comes on the heels of the PlayStation 5 Pro's first-ever discount, as well as more price cuts for the Days of Play 2025 sale.

The upcoming free titles include:

Read more
3 new PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (May 23-25)
The King's son Beelzebub and his assistant Thief excited while out in the desert.

There's nothing better than an extended weekend to treat yourself to some guilt-free gaming time. Memorial Day means a ton of us get a whole extra day to chill out and explore the best games on PlayStation Plus, which just so happen to have added a huge chunk of titles. We've got multiple dangerous open world games, RPGs, and more to pick from, making this one of the hardest weeks I've had in narrowing down my recommendations to just three. That's a great problem to have and only means you will easily find a game that clicks with you. Even though we've got a three-day weekend, there's no time to waste, so here are the three best new PlayStation Plus games you need to be playing.

Sand Land

Read more
3 PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (May 16-19)
sonys-bend-studio-is-working-on-a-very-exciting-new-ip

The middle of the month is always a bit of an awkward spot when it comes to PlayStation Plus games. Plenty of us will be ripping through Doom: The Dark Ages this weekend, but that kind of gory, heavy metal FPS game isn't for everyone. There's also the sad news we got a few weeks ago about Lost Soul Aside being delayed out of this month, leaving a big hole for us PlayStation gamers. Not to worry, though, because I haven't forgotten my duty of finding the best games in the PlayStation Plus catalogue to make sure you have something amazing to play each and every weekend. For this weekend, I've found an alternative FPS, an overlooked open world adventure, and a more cozy experience. Let's check them out.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Read more